Conceição liberates Ajax and gives Van Bronckhorst a very dubious record


Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 10:51 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 23:12

Ajax closed the group stage of the Champions League on Tuesday with a victory at Rangers. Alfred Schreuder’s team started phenomenally at Ibrox and ran out to a 0-2 lead within half an hour. After the break, Ajax switched back two gears and allowed the Scots to return to the match in the final phase via a penalty. Francisco Conceição, who had only just got on the field, quickly finished it with his first goal for Ajax: 1-3. Ajax already knew that it would be third in group A. Rangers ends with the worst goal difference ever (2-22) and zero points at the bottom: a negative record for Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Where Ajax’s line-up has hardly changed lately, Schreuder made three changes in Scotland. Most striking was the starting spot of Owen Wijndal in favor of Daley Blind. Kenneth Taylor returned to the team in place of Davy Klaassen, while Mohammed Kudus replaced Brian Brobbey in the striker’s position. Van Bronckhorst also changed his team in three places and replaced, among others, the suspended John Lundstram. His place was taken by 37-year-old Steven Davis.

The team from Amsterdam started brilliantly on Ibrox and took the lead after four minutes via a brilliant attack. Dusan Tadic stabbed Kenneth Taylor over the left flank, after which his low cross went to Kudus. The striker finished in one move for Berghuis, who finished with a subtle foot movement: 0-1. Ajax had the upper hand, but allowed Rangers the first big chance after fifteen minutes. Fashion Sakala saw his header off the line by Calvin Bassey.

After that it was Ajax again that struck the clock. After half an hour of play, three huge opportunities followed immediately in succession for the team from Amsterdam, the second of which became a goal. At the first opportunity, Steven Berghuis failed to take advantage of a stupid loss of possession at Rangers. A few minutes later, Wijndal reached the back line, and then played Kudus. The Ghanaian was able to take and shoot through the head of Leon King: 0-2. Bergwijn could have decided one-on-one with Allan McGregor a minute later, but was unable to beat the goalkeeper in the far corner.

It seemed to be the perfect evening for Ajax, which had to deal with a downer just before half-time. Wijndal unfortunately collided hard with the billboards and had to come off. Remarkably enough, the right-footed Devyne Rensch, and not Blind, was allowed to replace him. The occasional left back played a major role at the start of the second half. Rensch pulled the emergency brake shortly after the break after a weak intervention and received yellow for that. Minutes later, he seemed to give Kudus a goal with a perfect low cross. However, that goal did not last because of narrow offside.

Ajax seemed to let the reins loose a bit and needed a save from Remko Pasveer after seventy minutes to keep the goal clean. The goalie was able to tap a nice long shot from Scott Arfield just under the bar. Rangers, however, was unable to continue the offensive. In the final phase, Tadic gave a good pass to Edson Álvarez, who got the ball bad on the head. Pasveer seemed to blunder on the other side by giving the ball to Alfredo Morelos, who pushed the ball next to the empty goal. In the 86th minute it still went wrong for Ajax. Álvarez gave Rabbi Matondo a boost: penalty for Rangers. Tavernier beat Pasveer by shooting straight ahead: 1-2. The tension only lasted a few minutes into the game, as Tadic then sent a great pass to Conceição. The Portuguese cut his opponent out from behind the standing leg and pushed in controlled: 1-3.